DECRYPTAGE – As a meeting of overseas mayors in Issy-les-Moulineaux on Monday kicks off the 106e Congrès des maires de France, which Michel Barnier will conclude on Thursday, academic Martial Foucault looks at the growing tensions between mayors and the state.
Former director of Cévipof, Martial Foucault is a professor at Sciences Po. His latest book is “Maires au bord de la crise de nerfs”, Éditions de l’Aube, 2020.
The straw that is breaking the camel’s back in the discord between mayors and the state is more like an ocean. An ocean of savings of 5 billion euros according to the government, but estimated at 10 billion by the Association des maires de France (AMF). The announcements by Michel Barnierat the presentation of the 2025 budgethave rekindled old tensions between the national executive and its local counterparts. Already, between 2015 and 2017, local authorities had been asked to cut their budgets by 10 billion euros; after two strongly contested territorial reforms (the Maptam law in 2014 and the NOTRe law in 2015). To say that mayors and department presidents have not welcomed the new government’s intentions is an understatement.
Restoring a bond of consideration
As of September 2024, the declarations…
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